Praxiteles
Forum Replies Created
- Posts
Would the young gentleman who follows this archiseek thread every day and who to-day purchased a copy of the FOSCC’s book and of their Calendar at their fundraising drive in TESCO’s Midleton, Co. Cork, please like to send a private message to Praxiteles as the person with whom he spoke would like to get in contact. Thanks.
The fundraising drive was a great success and all but 35 calenders of two printings consisting of 2,500 calendars have been sold with all proceeds going directly to the FOSCC to cover their legal expenses incurred by the Midleton Oral Hearing and their successful appeal to An Bord Pleannala. A thousand thanks to all who bought the FOSCC calendar and book.
P.S. If you want one of the remaining calendars – move quickly!
Something from this week’s Private Eye: cleraly, one could be forgiven for thinking that there is world wide conspiracy to rid the world of every trace of anything designed or built by E. W, Pugin.
I wonder whether the dilapidation trick is not what is in train by letting Cobh Cathedral fall down into a complete shambles: or, aka, Post-emptive vandalism? (viz posting no.2160 for a complete list of the vandalizers!).
Chris!
I have corrected the problem with the picture of Gerry Casey. The real one has owned up this time.If anyone has photographs of the remaining muskateers, please do not hesitate to post them for all to see who is responsible for the botched “restoration” of Cobh Cathedral.
@THE_Chris wrote:
Just so someone doesnt get misblamed 😀 That pic is not the Gerry Casey who was once in Cobh 🙂
Thanks for that Chris and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was waiting for someone to send me a photograph and I can now confirm that Chris is correct and the photo shown is NOT Gerry Casey the present PP of Doneraile and member of the lazy steering committee responsible for the “restoration” of Cobh Cathedral. I shall post the relevant photograph shortly.
Well, here you are:
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-49.htmResponsibility for the current mess in St. Cloman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork, rests with a body called the Cathedral Restoration Steering Committee. This committee is made up of the following persons:
1. John R. Bowen
Strange that such a cultured person would be involved with this lot. Spent a lot of money as sponsor of the Exhibition of Cork Silver and on the James Barry Exhibition during the great debacle that was Cork 2005.2. Brian Carroll
A solicitor in Fermoy, Co. Cork.3. Canon G. Casey, P.P., Doneraile
aged 71. It was during his period as Adm. in Cobh Cathedral that the brass bar was bolted to the back of the Sedilia.4. Dr. Tom Cavanagh
aged 76, seen here scrumming with the then Minister for the Environment Noel Dempsey!5. Ted Foley -extreme right of picture-
Our Ted is a Regional Manager with Allied Irish Banks in Cork and seems to have an interest in “cultural” and sporting activities. Teaming up with another “cultural” disaster (Cork 2005 Culture Capital) he came out with the famous, if somewhat Hegelian, mouthful of guff that “Culture is rooted in the community…”. Enough said.6. Dean Eamonn Goold, PP, Midleton
7. Fr. Jim Killeen
The guffy press spokesperson for the invisible bishop Magee.8. Denis O’Callaghan, P.P., Mallow
Aged 77, a well known contributor of popular wisdom to the local newspapers and former future bishop with no obvious specialization in art or architecture and definitely not a subscriber to Apollo.9. James O’Donnell, P.P., Macroom
10. Donal O’Mahony, Adm., Cobh
11. Denis Reidy, P.P., Carrigtwohill
aged 72.12. Frank Walley
The Monastery of St. Catherine of Alexandria on Mount Sinai
A link to an exhibition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles of some of its early icons which are survivors of the iconaclasm unleashed by the Isaurian dynasty and which raged in the 8th and 9th. centuries:
The seating in teh North (and South) transept has recently been “re-oriented”. According to the logic of the Cathedral plan, any seats in the north or south transepts should be oriented towards the East, in tandem with the nave seating. However, some genius developed the ieda of orienting the seating in the transepts to face the central nave (i.e. to have the seating facing South and North)). This is a complete absurdity and in some measure responsible for the decay of the walkway mosaics.
I would agree that it would be helpful were the Health and Safety people to interest themselves in this matter. Does anyone have contact details for them?
In French gothic cathedrals, time was divided between the North Transept which represented the past, and hence the Old Testament; the South Transept represented the present and was dedicated to the New Testament; and the West was dedicated to the future and usually featured apocalyptic subjects (such as at Cobh). or last juedements etc.
By in large that has been followed in the decoration of Cobh. The North Transept of the Cathedral is given over to Old Testament subjects but to the very last subjects of salvation History before the birth of Christ: St Joseph /the last Patriarch of the Old Testanment); St. John the Baptist, the last Prophet of the Old Testament; Our Lady, the last heoine of the Old Testanment.
This decorative schema, however, is chosen and conditioned because of the North Transept’s historical association with the Confraternity of the Holy Family. Hence, we have the marriage of Our Lardy and St. Joseph on the Holy Family altar; above are the Old Testament types of prohpets, patriarchs and kings; and above that in the lancet windows allagorical figures of the virtues of family life; and above that in the Rose Window, the Holy Family of Nazareth with an emphasis on the life of St. Joseph. On the south wall of the transept, high above the arch and facing the Altar of the Holy Family is a large statue of St. Joseph.
The decorative scheme of the South transept is equally coherent and concrete. The transept is dominated by the Altar of the Crucifixion since this area of the Cathedral is historically connected with the Confraternity of the Holy Cross. Here we have life size figures of the crucifixion with Our Lady and St, John flanking the dead Christ. St Mary Magdalen is at the foot of the Cross with the jar of ointment for the burial of Christ. In the gallery of statues above the crucifixion are Irish saints: St Patrick, St, Bridget, St. Colomkille, St Colman, St Ita, St. Brendan, Blessed Thaddeus Mccarthy. While the Crucifixion bears witness to the universal salvation obtained for mankind by Christ’s death, the figures above represent those who in Ireland and in the diocese of Cloyne have been its principal Confessors and are responsible for making that salvation available to the Irish and the faithful in the diocese of Cloyne. Above that, we have the series of lancet windows illustrating various figures from the Old Testament involved with water and its symbolic association with access to the New Creation of water and the Holy Spirit through Baptism. Hence, the salvati8on obtained on the Cross by Christ and made available through the unbroken line of saints and Confessors is also available NOW through Baptism. The theme is carried on in the Rose WIndow with the depiction of Our Lady as the Stella Maris or Star of the Sea – indicating that she is the sure guide to Christ and the protectress of those who seek her Son.
As to the unbroken line of Confessors, this theme is continued on the lateral panels of the Crucifixion with the line of succession of all the bishops of Cloyne from St. Coleman to the present. The tree of succession begins in the South Transept and continues on the lateral panels of the Altar of the Holy Family in the North Transept
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
Some further examples of the decay of the mosaic floors in the Cathedral.
I am just wondering how the famous restoration Steering Committee can spend £ 4 million and at the end leave us with a dump. Just how is that possible? And are those responsible going to be held to account?
St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
View of the North Transept
The gallery of statues under the window represents figures from the Old Testament. St Joseph, the last of the Patriarchs, David, Isaiah, Elias, Eliseus, Ruth, Esther Zachary, Elizabeth and St. John th Baptist -the last of the Old Testament Prophets.
St, Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork
We have seen some examples of the decay of the interior of the building but here is a view which shows how the sprawl creeping over the Great Island is now impinging on the exterior and general setting of the Cathedral:
The statue of Our Lady in St Audeon’s is interesting. There was an article in 2000 in the Irish Arts review by Eileen Kane of UCD about it. It is an Italian work sculpted in Rome in 1848.
The statue is by Pietro Bonanni and was commissioned from the artist by Paul Cardinal Cullen while still Rector of the Irish College in Rome on behalf of the Parish Priest of St. Auseon’s. The contarct was signed 8 September 1844. The statue is based on Raphael’s Madonna del Granduca of 1504. The Parish Priest was Fr. James Monks but it was his curate Fr. James Corr who had recently returned to Dublin after ordination in Rome. According to the contract the statue was to be 6′ 9inches and the pedastal2′ 8inches and was to be executed within two years. The statue arrived in the port of Dublin from Leghorn on 14 August 1848 and was dedicated on Sunday, 20 August 1848. The statue is signed by Bonnani.
It is of course a major miracle that she did not end up in a junk shop in Francis Street!!
(See Eileen Kane, “From Rome to Dublin in 1848. A Madonna for St Audeon’s” in Irish Arts Review Yearbook, vol. vol 16 [2000], pp. 151-156)
And of course, we cannot forget our good friend Brian Quinn’s effort at Rosstrevor
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/down/rostrevor_monastery.shtml
@Rhabanus wrote:
Too sterile for my taste. Much prefer the other cloisters. Thanks for the photos, Prax!
What “nature-boy” got his talons into the cloister at Maynooth? Reminds me somewhat of that “artiste” who littered the gutted nave of St John the Baptist Drumacree Rd with his El Greco lawn gnomes.
Was good taste driven out of Ireland on 1 Jan 1970, like the snakes in St Patrick”s day (5th century)?
For modesty sake, let us not ask anythig about the introduction of the New Age garden into St. Mary’s Cloister in Maynooth!!
